Daniel Radcliffe celebrates the man who made him fly.
The “Harry Potter” star, who rose to fame as a 12-year-old portraying the fictional character, produced a new documentary about his stunt double from the films. “David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived,” chronicles the titular 42-year-old’s journey after being paralyzed on set.
“I used to fly,” he says in the film, according to People. “Not so much anymore.”
Holmes is eight years older than Radcliffe, but served as his stunt double for all eight “Potter” films. He suffered a spinal cord injury in 2009 but broke his neck after being driven backwards into a wall while practice filming the final two laps.
The “Deathly Hallows” incident left Holmes paralyzed from the waist down.
“I wanted to do something about Dave for years because he’s extraordinary and I wanted to share that with the world,” Radcliffe told People for a story published Tuesday. “I tried to do it myself. We shot some stuff and I didn’t really know what I was doing.”
“I thought maybe I knew how to direct a documentary,” he added. “I absolutely did not.”
Radcliffe ultimately hired “Potter” video operator Dan Hartley to direct the film.
The documentary opens with Holmes as Harry Potter appearing in mid-air on a broomstick, showing just how important he was to bringing JK Rowling’s literary vision to the screen.
Radcliffe was originally keen to make a documentary about stuntmen and their invaluable work in general, but it shifted to a focused look at Holmes before and after his accident. For Radcliffe, it also served as a trip down memory lane.
“Dave is still one of the most important people in my life,” he told the BBC this week.
“He was someone who was so incredibly fun to hang out with when I was young,” Radcliffe added. “But as I grew up, he became a real guide to me and kind of a mentor and someone who really looked out for me, and that’s really just continued as we’ve grown.”
Radcliffe moved on as a daring journeyman actor to shed his “Potter” fame with riskier work.
Holmes became an ambassador for the RNOH Charity. He is also a producer, among others, of the podcast “Cunning Stunts”, which featured other stunt professionals discussing the art.
Holmes told People that he’s “not ready to watch” the documentary yet, but he knows it was made “with love and sensitivity.”
“I have a team of Avengers who are wheelchair users or people from all different aspects of the disability spectrum who have seen this and said, ‘No, this is really empowering and it’s really positive and you’re going to do a good thing for the world,” he said.
“These opinions are the ones that matter to me,” Holmes concluded.
“David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived” is now available on HBO Max.